Beagle
Thanks Beagle,
sadly that was the way I heard it...I wonder if he'd have got better treatment nowadays - in this case I think he probably would have.
It must have taken a hell of a lot of skill & guts to land it in one piece, the version I heard stated he had several goes - and of course no barrier etc was possible.
There are the other stories which circulate, such as the American loadmaster who took a C-130 headed for East Germany ( & failed to reach it courtesy of a Lightning ) & the groundcrew ( Belgian ? ) chap who pinched an F-16 for a spectacular suicide... Even had a threat to steal a Harrier or Hawk at our place once, which was rather robustly dealt with by a certain Mr. J.F; he was intelligent enough to warn us all, which I doubt others would have done.